Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP (abbreviation for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

Founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854, the Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932. There have been 18 Republican presidents, the first being Abraham Lincoln, who served from 1861 until his assassination in 1865, and the most recent being George W. Bush, who served from 2001 to 2009. The most recent Republican presidential nominee is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who lost in 2012 to Democratic incumbent Barack Obama.

Although it is named after republicanism, that concept is no longer widely used. Instead republican ideals have been incorporated into the concept of conservatism, which serves as the ideological core of the party. This conservatism contrasts with the modern liberalism of the Democrats. The Republican Party's conservatism involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, business, a strong national defense, deregulation, restrictions on labor unions, social-conservative policies (particularly opposition to abortion), and traditional values, usually with a Christian foundation. The party is deeply split on the issue of how to deal with illegal immigration.

Jimmy Dore

James Patrick "Jimmy" Dore (born July 26, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian. Dore started performing in 1989.

Life and career

Dore was born into and raised in a Catholic family of 12 on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois. He is the star of several Comedy Central specials, host of The Jimmy Dore Show, and a writer–performer for the Off-Broadway hit The Marijuana -Logues. His hour-long Comedy Central Special Citizen Jimmy was chosen Best Of 2008 by iTunes, and was named one of the Top 5 Comedy DVDs of 2008 by Punchline Magazine. Jimmy Dore's latest comedy special Sentenced to Live was released on October 6, 2015.

Dore currently lives in Pasadena, California, and hosts his own monthly show Left, Right & Ridiculous at the UCB theater in Hollywood. Much of his recent material is focused on the absurdity of the corporate news media, social criticism, and modern politics. In June 2009 he began producing The Jimmy Dore Show, a one-hour comedic look at the news, which originates at KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, airs nationally on the Pacifica Network and on the web via The Young Turk's Network. He also hosts the podcast Comedy And Everything Else with his wife Stefane Zamorano and formerly with Todd Glass, who departed from the show in late 2009.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or, colloquially, Obamacare, is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act amendment, it represents the most significant regulatory overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Under the act, hospitals and primary physicians would transform their practices financially, technologically and clinically to drive better health outcomes, lower costs and improve their methods of distribution and accessibility.

The ACA was enacted to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance, lower the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage, and reduce the costs of healthcare for individuals and the government. It introduced mechanisms like mandates, subsidies, and insurance exchanges. The law requires insurance companies to cover all applicants within new minimum standards and offer the same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions or sex. In 2011, the Congressional Budget Office projected that the ACA would lower both future deficits and Medicare spending.

Common sense

Common sense is a basic ability to perceive, understand, and judge things, which is shared by ("common to") nearly all people and can reasonably be expected of nearly all people without any need for debate.

The everyday understanding of what common sense is derived from philosophical discussion, involving several European languages. Related terms in other languages include Latin sensus communis, Greek κοινὴ αἲσθησις (koinē aísthēsis), and French bon sens, but these are not straightforward translations in all contexts. Similarly in English, there are different shades of meaning, implying more or less education and wisdom: "good sense" is sometimes seen as equivalent to "common sense", and sometimes not.

"Common sense" has at least two specifically philosophical meanings. One is a capability of the animal soul (Greek psukhē) proposed by Aristotle, which enables different individual senses to collectively perceive the characteristics of physical things such as movement and size, which all physical things have in different combinations, allowing people and other animals to distinguish and identify physical things. This common sense is distinct from basic sensory perception and from human rational thinking, but cooperates with both. The second special use of the term is Roman-influenced and is used for the natural human sensitivity for other humans and the community. Just like the everyday meaning, both of these refer to a type of basic awareness and ability to judge which most people are expected to share naturally, even if they can not explain why.

Rex Tillerson

Rex Wayne Tillerson (born March 23, 1952 in Wichita Falls, Texas) is an American businessman and is the chairman, president, and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation. Under Tillerson's leadership Exxon acquired XTO Energy. Exxon has tied with Apple Inc. and Google to be one of the top three largest public companies by market value.

Education

Rex Wayne Tillerson was born on March 23, 1952 in Wichita Falls, Texas. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1965. In 1970, he graduated from Huntsville High School in Huntsville, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975. During his time at UT Austin, he was involved with the Tejas Club,Longhorn Band, and Alpha Phi Omega. In 2006 he was named a Distinguished Engineering Graduate.

Business career

Tillerson joined The Exxon Company, US, in 1975 as an engineer. He held various positions with Exxon, domestically and internationally. In 1995, he became president of Exxon Yemen Inc. and Esso Exploration and Production Khorat Inc. In 1998, he became a vice president of Exxon Ventures (CIS) and president of Exxon Neftegas Limited with responsibility for Exxon's holdings in Russia and the Caspian Sea. In 1999, with the merger of Exxon and Mobil, he was named Executive Vice President of ExxonMobil Development Company. In 2004, he became president and director of Exxon Mobil and on January 1, 2006, he was elected chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), following the retirement of Lee Raymond. Tillerson is also a trustee for the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the American Petroleum Institute, and is a member of the Business Roundtable.